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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Norah's sister describe Norah's tidy life?

2. Who had the hardest time coping with David's sister's death?

3. What did David used to catch as a child?

4. What is David's occupation?

5. What does Caroline's roommate have a Ph.D. in?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Norah do to calm her nerves while Paul is in school?

2. What does David think about while looking at a geode?

3. What does Phoebe do when she sees Al has come to visit Caroline?

4. Why has David been unable to be intimate with Norah?

5. What does David do after Norah gives birth, and why?

6. Why does David not want to have another child with Norah?

7. What does Norah ask David not to do at the party, and why?

8. Why did meeting David cause Caroline to give up her dreams?

9. What was Caroline's biggest dream before she met David?

10. What interrupts the party Norah planned?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Despair was a theme that was placed in a number of sensitive places in this plot, especially as Norah deals with the death of her daughter. What are some of these places, and what role did despair play in this book?

Essay Topic 2

What role does symbolism play in this book, and where does it appear? How is the plot altered by the presence of these symbols?

Essay Topic 3

What was the significance of the title of the book, and what role did it play in the plot of the book?

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This section contains 599 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample